I have read your coverage of my case and I just wanted to pass on my appreciation of your reporting. It is good to know that there are people who are willing to report about dark and complicated issues that the main stream press seems intent on ignoring.

Your coverage is so important as an aid to educate those who are unaware of the devastating problems that exist with incest, ritual child molestation and the mechanisms used by the perpetrators to effectuate their crimes. I was one of those people who had no idea that such depraved acts occurred on such a wide spread basis.

My entry into this field was not by my own election nor was I inclined to pursue such topics. As you may have read I began my career as a lawyer with the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office. I was a prosecutor from 1986 thru the last day of 1989. I then left and became a criminal defense attorney. I was very fortunate to have a thriving practice which grew each year financially from 1991-2003.

When I began to help my wife in earnest with her increasingly growing emotional problems in 2003, I knew very little of the depth of the problem associated with incest and ritual child abuse. Even though my entire adult life dealt with crime and our judical system, I had not encountered wide spread incest or serial child rape. My encounters were limited to individual defendents who had victimized no more than a few children for a limited period of time. I never encountered a serial child molester. I never heard of incest by a father with his “adult” children. I was virtually unaware that there were families that swapped their children with other incestuous friends and family members.

Furthermore, I certainly had never heard of perpetrators using “mind control” and “satanic cults” as a mechanism to perpetrate their crimes and as a method to avoid detection. I had no knowledge and I am ashamed to say no desire to learn about mind control, satanic cults and ritual child molestation. I was not a conspiracy guy and would turn a deaf ear to such topics.

That all changed when I tried to make sense of what my wife was slowly revealing to me. She told me about her father, Dr. Sidney Siemer, raping and molesting her from 2 ½ years of age continuously throughout her life including throughout our marriage. She revealed that she was also molested at times during satanic ceremonies. She revealed that her father, Dr. Siemer raped and molested her brothers and sisters, and was a part of a large group of family and friends that swapped children for the purpose of sexually abusing them.

Perhaps most confusing to me was why my wife of 19 years had never told me about this. My wife told me that due to the trauma that her father, Sid Siemer, had inflicted upon her that her memories had in effect been buried. Her fight to recall her past was a slow and emotionally painful process. The “trauma” was not limited to the acts of rape and molest. Through acts of mind control, hypnosis, infliction of pain and physical acts of torture, Dr. Siemer had a clear and precise plan to keep his victims silent.

So when I began my investigation into the “how” and “why” of all of this, I did not begin with a predisposition that steered my search. I virtually began as a blank slate.

What I know now after 3 ½ years of studying and investigating, is that we as a society must deal with a very large and dangerous problem that must be stopped. Dr. Sidney Siemer is but one example of many like him. What I have seen and experienced through my x-wife is something I cannot walk away from. Children must be protected and we cannot allow them to experience what people like Sid Siemer want to do to them. Those acts literally kill them; crippling them emotionally to such an extent that they cannot function as a healthy adult. More frightening, is that these child victims, if left untreated, will in overwhelming numbers morph into perpetrators themselves.

That is what has happened in my case. My x-wife who was victimized in unimaginable ways as a child grew into a mother who allowed our 4 children to be abused by her abuser.

The things I have done, have been done with one purpose; to protect my 4 children. My goal is to stop Dr. Sidney Siemer and people like him from molesting another child. My goal is to get help for those children who have been violated so that they can begin on the road to health. My goal is break this cycle.

It seems to me that the only way we can achieve such a goal is to continue to educate and make the general public aware that this problem is real and much more widespread than most wish to acknowledge. People like you go a long way in achieving that goal and making real change a reality.

I also wanted to give you an update on my case. My fight is not over. On 6/23/06, 1:30 in Dept. 2 before Judge Eddie Keller of the Superior Court of El Dorado County, I will bring several motions before the court that I am confident will force the court to either dismiss the torture conviction or grant me a new trial.

I have filed a motion under PC 1385 asking the court to dismiss the torture count due to the insufficiency of the evidence in light of the jurors other verdicts. My jury brought back 10 not guilty verdicts as to charged offenses and 2 not guilty verdicts as to “Great Bodily Injury” findings. These not guilty verdicts dealt with many of the specific false claims made against me by my x-wife. It is our strong opinion that after the court examines the not guilty verdicts that there is simple not anything left that would remotely constitute torture.

Our investigative team has also discovered that there was significant juror misconduct that we believe will force the court to order a new trial as to counts where I was found guilty.

Despite the jury returning 12 not guilty verdict; and/or findings, what has become clear is that there were 4 jurors who were very biased against me and wanted to find me guilty of everything. During the record setting deliberation period, those 4 had to concede that there was not sufficient evidence to convict me of the specific claims that my x-wife made against me. However, they pushed unduly on the other jurors to come to a compromised verdict on the torture count which is very vague in its allegations. The jury was forbidden from hearing that the torture count carried a life term.

Two jurors have signed affidavits wherein they tell the judge that they do not feel that I am guilty of torture and that they felt “pressured” to vote guilty. They have both said that if they could do it again they would vote not guilty as to the torture count.

Three jurors have also signed affidavits detailing misconduct by 2 of the jurors. They reveal that juror #12; John Arnold conducted an on-line computer search to find a different definition of “Great Bodily Injury”, a requirement for torture. Such an action is absolutely forbidden by the court. A juror also reported that Arnold said I was guilty after only 2 days of the prosecution’s case. Again this is absolutely forbidden by the court. A juror is instructed that he must presume me not guilty throughout the presentation of evidence and argument. Such an improper opinion, if it had been made known to court and counsel would have caused him to be removed and replaced by an alternate juror.

The 3 jurors also reported that juror #7; Robert Heissner, threatened to walk out of deliberations because the jury was not agreeing with him that I was guilty of torture. He in fact walked out on one occasion and said that he was not coming back. Additionally, Heissner admitted that he brought a dictionary to the juror room in an attempt to persuade the jury with a different definition of “Great Bodily Injury”. Once again, this is an absolute violation of the law for a juror to go to an outside source for clarification of a legal definition. The court defined “Great Bodily Injury” and the jury had to make its decision based on the courts rule and definition.

...

...Thanks again and God Bless you.

Richard Hamlin

Ed comment: In more recent mail contact I was notified that Richard's court date for June 23 has been rescheduled to August 14.